


Home is a place (found at your side)

by twinSky



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Movie Night, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:46:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29212128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinSky/pseuds/twinSky
Summary: Friday night is movie night, which goes about as well as it usually does for the three of them.-In the world after the game, the three of them find their moments of happiness where they can.
Relationships: Harukawa Maki & Saihara Shuichi & Yumeno Himiko
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	Home is a place (found at your side)

**Author's Note:**

> writing post-canon ndrv3 content is like. *shoves them in a room* don't leave there i dont wanna consider the outside world. 
> 
> written for my lovely friend viola's birthday... love u viola please enjoy this shuichi kinnie <3

Maki sighs as she drops another set of pillows on the ground, staring dispassionately at the growing pile of pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals growing before her. From the other room she hears Yumeno’s screech along with the distinct sound of the fire alarm, Shuichi’s panicked cries to calm down quickly joining in.

The pile is wonderful, she thinks as the sound from outside the room grow louder and more frantic, and will not make her regret her life choices.

The thought of sitting down and letting the moment pass floats briefly through her mind before she sighs, deeper than the first time, turning on her heel. As if she could leave those two to do anything by themselves when she could help.

-

There is smoke coming out of the kitchen, thick and dark, the red light of the beeping alarm a shining beacon within it. She pinches the bridge of her nose, letting out a breath.

 _Popcorn_ , Himiko was making _popcorn_. How on earth had she messed it up that badly? She shouldn’t have let her convince Maki to switch tasks, there was a routine to their days. And movie night was always the same, Himiko got the room ready, Maki prepared the food, all while Shuichi went out to get the movie.

(Neither of them particularly liked Shuichi venturing out when it was something they could easily look up on their computers, but he liked to do it and was stubborn as all hell when he chose to be.

They both knew he would be fine but… distrust in the populace was something they would all have for the rest of their lives most likely.)

Why Himiko had decided she would be in charge of the food today probably had something to do with Maki insisting she stay out of the kitchen after Himiko’s last attempt at making pasta had ended up in a destroyed pot and them ordering out.

As was the case then, and is the case now, Maki thought she was well within her rights to have said it.

Marching over to the windows she slides them open, and then walks back over to the kitchen a shaking Himiko and distraught Shuichi standing over a blackened bowl of what could have, at one point in time, possibly held popcorn. It was too charred to tell now, but something in the bowl looked almost melted. At her arrival the pair looks up, painfully pitiful looks on their faces that she cannot hold any anger towards.

Time had made her disgustingly soft.

“Maki…” Himiko says, tears in her eyes, clutching the bowl even closer.

“How did you even manage this?” She asks slowly, waving smoke away.

Himiko’s lips purse, gaze dropping to the ground refusing to answer. The silence stretches for a few moments until Shuichi breaks, replying for her.

“She forgot to take it out of the plastic…”

“Well, the paper bag goes in!” She exclaims, nearly dropping the bowl as her arms raise in annoyance. “Why not the plastic?!”

Maki isn’t sure what the expression on her face is right now, but it is enough for the two of them to pale, leaning closer to each other.

“I… I got the movie?” Shuichi offers weakly, reaching into the bag on his arm and retrieving the dvd.

“Yeah!” Himiko agrees hurriedly, “And it was your turn to pick the movie, aren’t you excited?”

“Out.” She says instead of replying to her question.

“Oh,” Shuichi replies, “Well Maki we can help clean up you don’t have to –”

“ _Out_.” She repeats, glaring at them.

“Thank you, Maki.” He says, smiling softly.

“Sorry I messed it up,” Himiko replies reluctantly, giving her a quick hug as the two of them walk past.

She sighs, deflating. She had long since lost the ability to hold onto any kind of anger towards them. Though, as she looked around the contained disaster that was their kitchen, she was sure still able to be annoyed.

And she was very annoyed right now.

-

By the time the kitchen was in a useable state and Maki walked back to the other room it had somehow been transformed from a useless but soft pile of blankets to a far too intricate blanket fort. Himiko was curled up beneath it, seated amongst a sea of pillows as she played some game. Banned from the kitchen, but truly a magician when it came to making things comfortable. Laziness came with its own set of skills she supposed.

“You can go get comfortable Maki,” Shuichi says from where he’s kneeled by the tv, fidgeting with the remote.

“Well –” She tries, gesturing to the bowl of chips in her hands.

He waves her away. “I know you, I know, you got everything ready, I can bring it over when I’m done here you’ve done enough just go sit with Himiko.”

Fondly Maki recalled when he was terrified by her, now he shooed her away without so much of a glance. It made something soft that she would not name even under pain of death bubble up inside her.

She nodded even though he would not see it, ducking down into the shaded comfort of the fort.

“Some of my best work right?” Himiko says as she settles down beside her, pausing her game. Behind the faded pause screen Himiko’s character stood in some victorious pose –another fighting game Maki assumed.

“The children always liked doing things like this, but I still don’t understand how you get it to all stand up like this.” She says, poking at one of the blanket walls. “Realistically with the supports you have this should’ve collapsed on us.”

“It’s magic!” Himiko replies, wiggling her fingers in the air. “And I’ve had years of practice for this particular trick.”

She hummed in reply, over the years Himiko had created elaborate little tents for their movie nights, and though Maki had given up trying to get her to explain how they worked –they were banned from the room while she ‘worked her magic’ it didn’t stop her from wondering.

Shuichi said they were better of not knowing. He’d grin that particular smile she hated and say ‘somethings are better of a secret’.

There were few things he took that stance towards, always preferring to know as much as possible. But he could be annoyingly enigmatic sometimes and she and Himiko had just learned to deal with it.

“Sorry I nearly blew up the kitchen.” Himiko said after a couple minutes of silence and she sighed, leaning back into the fort and grabbing one of the nearby stuffed animals –a large gray penguin squeaked as she settled it in her lap.

“It’s fine.” Even if she had, they had enough money to deal with it. “If you were upset about me getting mad at you over the pasta you could’ve just told me.”

Perhaps it was the passive aggressiveness that bothered her a bit more, she knew her tone came across poorly a lot she would hope the two of them would be upfront about things like that however.

“I wasn’t mad!” Himiko shouts, “I know I’m a mess in the kitchen. I just wanted to show you guys I could so something simple but… nyeh.”

“You could just read the instructions.”

“Reading…” Himiko bemoans, listing uselessly to the side, “the effort.”

“Maybe just remembering plastic wrappers should never go in the microwave is a start.”

“That’s what Shuichi said.” She replies, slumping even further.

She huffs out a laugh at Himiko’s defeated posture which earns her a disgruntled scowl. “I could teach you, if you actually want to learn this time.”

It hadn’t been the first time she’d offered, but it would be the first time Himiko actually looks like she might be interested in saying yes.

“Would be nice to not have to order out if neither are you are home.” She says blankly towards the ceiling.

“Are you teaching Himiko to cook?” Shuichi asks as he ducks in, a new bowl of edible popcorn in one hand and a bottle of soda with plastic cups stacked atop it in the other. “Maki’s a really nice teacher actually, she’s really patient.”

Patience was not word most would associate with her.

“Oh I can see that.” Himiko agrees with a nod.

But Himiko and Shuichi were not most people.

“Are you ready?” She asks ignoring the embarrassment heating up her cheeks, grabbing a handful of chips instead.

“For your horror movie of the month?” Himiko replies, lifting the cup of soda Shuichi had passed her fast enough it sloshes over the rim. “Always!”

Shuichi settles in beside her, grabbing the remote as Himiko shifts, resting her head on Maki’s shoulder.

“I’m starting it." He says needlessly as he presses play, leaning back as the opening credits begin to play.

-

They took turns picking the movie, and while sometimes they changed it up for something they heard was interesting, there was always a well informed guess about what each of them would choose. Himiko liked comedies, fantasies, and occasionally those movies in a language none of them knew just because they were kind of trippy. Shuichi was fond of mystery and suspense films as well as nearly anything animated. And Maki always leaned towards horrors or romance films.

She had picked horror this time around, and while she normally tried to go for the more thriller or psychological ones, because those had better chances of actually being good, she had purposefully picked a terrible slasher film. The ones that went for horror through just as much blood and violence as possible instead of actually being good.

They were almost funny in that way, which was probably the best part of it.

It was nice to let the movie wash over her as Himiko loudly complained blood wouldn’t splatter that way while Shuichi bemoaned how easy the killers actions would get them caught. In a morbid kind of way, their experiences made this more enjoyable of a moment.

And sometimes it was nice to pretend their past was something as simple as a badly produced slasher film.

At the very least, in moments like these, Maki was glad that for all that happened, they could at least be here together. To partake in silly and peaceful moments like these.

-

The movie had apparently somehow gotten five sequels – well one of them was a prequel – and Shuichi had gotten them all. He had shrugged when she asked why, they could usually get through two or three every week and the rest could wait for another time. He had a point but if Maki was being honest she hadn’t known there were so many. The reviews on the first one had been awful enough that she hadn’t looked any further than that.

There was something to say about people that this movie could be so universally hated and yet apparently have gotten enough money to make that many.

People were strange, and Maki was fine with ignoring basically all of them in favour of the two people here with her.

Speaking of, Himiko had fallen asleep on her shoulder halfway through movie four. She wasn’t surprised, she was yawning by the end of the third one but had insisted they continue on forth to the next one. Without her loud and vivid complaints traded for soft snores the room was quiet as even Shuichi had quieted as well, staring intently at the screen.

She would bet with confidence that it wasn’t that he was interested and more that he was trying to make sense of the at least 3 plot holes Maki had noticed while watching. Along with a whole host of other things she was sure she had missed.

It was nice to see, both of them for that matter, the first time she had picked a movie like this Himiko had turned green and Shuichi’s hands had begun to shake. Despite everything, Maki often forgot people didn’t quite move on from things, or get desensitized to things, as quickly as she did.

She had apologized, but it hadn’t felt like enough back then. And sure, they hadn’t held it against her but –

“Thinking bad thoughts again?” Shuichi calls, and it is only years of training that keep her from jumping as the words startle her.

“Shut up.” She murmurs and he laughs, knowing she’s more annoyed at being caught unaware than anything else.

“But you were!” He says, still grinning. “Bored of the movie already?”

“It’s terrible.” She says flatly. “It’s only entertaining in how terrible it truly is.”

“That’s one way to look at it.” Shuichi says, turning back towards the movie.

“You’re insufferable sometimes.”

“Ah,” He says, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, “you could say I learned from the best.”

“Now you’re just trying to upset me.”

“Maki you know I would never!” He says, looking genuinely scandalized, and she knows he’s right. But sometimes, it sure didn’t feel like it, and that was perhaps worse.

Still, she finds herself smiling as well.

The past was the past, and everything was fine now.

That was the most important part.

-

Maki does not remember falling asleep, but when she next opens her eyes light is shining through their thin blanket ceiling, and the tv is replaying the same soundbite of the menu screen again.

She fell asleep watching the movie, it happened sometimes, but usually the last one awake would guide the other two to bed. Had she fallen asleep before or after Shuichi? Her memory was fuzzy after their conversation, she had already been tired and by movie four the plot points all felt repetitive enough that went in one end and out the other without a single thing sticking.

She blinks, moving to get up only for a weight around her torso and disgruntled murmur to freeze her in place.

“Mmm… not y’t” Himiko murmurs sleepily from beside her, wrapping her hands tighter around Maki’s waist. Embarrassed she moves to cover her face with her hands only for her hand to meet resistance. She turns her head to see Shuichi sleeping soundly, his hand entwined in hers.

She closes her eyes, for a moment shame of having not noticed either of these things sooner overcoming the sheer mortification she feels. She counts to ten in her head, letting out a slow breath in time with the rhythm. Despite her embarrassment she has nothing against it. The two of them with her make the space warm and she always sleeps easier knowing they are both safe and sound.

Himiko makes another disgruntled sound and Shuichi shifts as if responding even while sleeping. She sighs, a smiling pulling at her lips as she relaxes, shoulders untensing.

This was a problem for later, or perhaps never.

For now, Maki was going to go back to sleep, and enjoy this moment of peace for what it was and nothing more.

It was moment’s like these that continued to make it all worth it after all.

**Author's Note:**

> my two ends of the spectrum are like. angst fic or fluff fic. little in between. perhaps it's the sad nature of the drfandom but most of my dr fics fall towards the latter end, i think they should be happy when they can.
> 
> -
> 
> [tumblr](http://twinsky.tumblr.com)/[twitter](https://twitter.com/twinsky72)!


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